You will still need some time to grease your gears. Legitimately, given his accomplishments throughout the season, his first career Slam and top ranking. In the final part, the abdominal problem that deprived him of playing in the ATP and Davis Cup finals.
In the unofficial “friendly” match against Andrey Rublev at the Mubadala World Tennis Championships, essentially his return after just over a month, Carlos Alcaraz did what he could. Little, in the vast majority of cases.
The world number one, cumbersome in his movements and decidedly not very aggressive from the baseline, constantly suffers from the Russian’s pressing from the bottom of the court and is only capable of moving the zero of the game box on two occasions in the fraction initial and only once in the second set.
Little to say about a 6-2 and 6-1 that he matured after just over an hour of play and that earned the Russian a pass to the final of the competition. In summary: Stefanos Tsitsipas awaits the Russian tennis player on Sunday, who in an incredibly similar manner and moment got rid of Casper Ruud without too much difficulty in the central match of the day.
Before the total revelation of the twenty-second season, one step away from the top of the ranking and also from the Us Open, ‘Tsitsipas’ overcame it. Little more than an hour even for the talented Greek, who perfectly interprets the challenge and serves with very high percentages.
Needless to say, he dug a groove early on, he won the first set a solid 6-2 and repeated the operation in the second. Obviously, Ruud was still feeling the effects of a rather tough season finale, seasoned among other things by the South American tour with Rafa Nadal.
Cecchinato on Carlos Alcaraz
Marco Cecchinato has said that Carlos Alcaraz reminds him of the latter’s illustrious compatriot Rafael Nadal. “I had a good training with Carlos. He’s really an extraordinary boy, and he’s very strong.
I’ve seen him grow a lot compared to the training sessions we’ve had in the past. … Compared to a year ago, he is much more powerful and he sees that he is working to play the forehand winner right away. In some ways he reminds me a lot of Rafa (Nadal).”
Cecchinato added that training with the reigning World No. 1 will hold him in good stead, saying: “Certainly comparing yourself with players of the highest level gives you an extra boost.”
